Commentary on the economic , geopolitical and simply fascinating things going on. Served occasionally with a side of snark.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Day 9 of the Malaysia Airline Flight 370 Mystery - Open questions remain . 1) How could a passenger jet, 74 metres long and with a 61-metre wingspan, apparently disappear for six hours before anyone raised the alarm ? 2) how could it cross the airspace of multiple countries in a region sensitive about security without anyone noticing ? 3) When the inspector general of Malaysian police announced that his officers were looking at several possible causes of the disappearance: hijacking, sabotage, or the crew and passengers' personal or psychological problems , were all crew and passengers cleared ? 4) whether the communication systems systems were shut off before or after air traffic control last spoke to the pilots. The calm "Goodnight" from the cockpit clearly raises questions if the systems had already been disabled. 5) Significant navigational experience as well as flight knowledge ( the timing of the diversion is also striking: just as the responsibility of Malaysia's air traffic control officials gave way to Vietnam's. The perfect opportunity for the plane to go missing with minimal attention ) , so if the pilot and co-pilot were not involved , who one the plane had such knowledge ? 6) Which leads to the basic question - what is the motive for this hi-jack ? 7) If this was a kidnapping , who is / are the target(s) and why not attempt to contact anyone to date , no ransom demand to date ? 8) If this was piracy - what was the booty - perhaps Malaysia Airlines will clarify what cargo ( from an one individual worth more than 500 , 000 or any one company worth more than a million dollars was carried in freight ? 9) If an act of terror , why no explosion evidence a week later , despite using the sophisticated techniques available today - and no debris found after a week or jet fuel observed ? Moreover , no one has claimed this event creditably to date 10 ) Have all military and civilian airbases within the flight range ( see visual aids section ) confirmed no observations of Flight 370 on either military or civilian radar or other communication systems and does that include Diego Garcia ? Will they make their communication data available to investigators ? Would such bases allow investigators access to clear each base as being a harbor / hiding place for the missing plane ?

Malaysian Airlines Flight 370: The Complete Timeline And Infographic

With Malaysian authorities frustrated (and seemingly confused), and US and Chinese government offering "help" to solve this increasingly mysterious disappearance of the Boeing 777-200ER over a week ago, we thought a quick summation of all that we know would be useful. The possibilities remain numerous but it appears the latest line of investigation is the pane vanished through "deliberate action" with the airline pilots coming under increasing scrutiny.

SATURDAY

7.24am: Malaysia Airlines confirms a jet lost contact with Subang air traffic control at 2.40am after it took off from Kuala Lumpur

10.30am: Families waiting at Beijing airport are told passengers will not arrive

By night: International rescue effort is under way. Two passengers used passports - one Austrian, one Italian - reported stolen in Thailand. Airline does not rule out terrorism

The largest rescue flotilla in Chinese naval history - four warships and five civilian and commercial vessels - speeds overnight to waters between Malaysia and Vietnam. Ten Chinese satellites join the hunt

Night: Airline announces it will give 31,000 yuan (HK$39,200) to relatives of each passenger as a special condolence payment

TUESDAY

Two senior Malaysian military officials say missing jet flew for an hour off its flight course and at a lower altitude after disappearing from civil aviation radar, partly explaining why Malaysia expanded search area to include Strait of Malacca two days earlier.

3pm: Malaysian police say one of two passengers using a stolen passport is an Iranian teenager, and release photos of both

WEDNESDAY

Beijing slams Malaysia's "pretty chaotic" and conflicting information as Kuala Lumpur officials fail to pinpoint the plane's last known whereabouts.

Malaysian media report the government has invited a witch doctor to help look for the plane by using a magic carpet, two coconuts and a wooden stick.

THURSDAY

Malaysian military confirms spotting an unidentified aircraft on its radar about 1 hour and 20 minutes after MH370's signal went cold. Airline says it has not been determined if that was the missing jet.

Malaysian authorities vow to banish witch doctor if he again carries out a ritual at the country's main airport after the scene draws ridicule around the world.

FRIDAY

Investigators are increasingly certain the jet turned back across the Malay Peninsula after losing communication.

International search expands westwards towards Indian Ocean.

YESTERDAY

Search narrows to two air corridors as Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirms plane kept flying after it "vanished". Officials also confirm the jet's disappearance was a "deliberate act".

Malaysian police are examining the home flight simulator of the pilot of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in a closer focus on the plane's crew amid suspicion that the aircraft disappeared because of foul play.

The homes and of Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid were searched by police Saturday and investigators spoke to the pilot's family, the Malaysian Transport Ministry said in a statement.

The searches came as Prime Minister Najib Razak had said that he believes that the plane vanished through "deliberate action'' on March 8, when it disappeared with 239 people on board on a flight between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.

...

The disappearance of Flight 370 has baffled investigators for more than a week, but Mr. Najib's comments have appeared to corroborate the analysis of U.S. investigators, which determined that one or more people on the plane deliberately changed its course and tried to mask its location.

Malaysia's leader says communications systems on Flight 370 were cut off by "deliberate action." U.S. officials are investigating whether a third system, on the plane's lower deck, was also compromised. WSJ's Jason Bellini explains.

Colleagues have described Capt. Zaharie as an aviation enthusiast who loved to fly and built a flight simulator at home.

...

The Transport Ministry statement said that Malaysia was treating both search corridors with "equal importance'' and is asking countries to provide further assistance in the search for the Boeing BA +1.00% 777-200, including satellite data and analysis, ground-search capabilities, radar data and maritime air assets, and how best to deploy them.

After a week of false leads, U-turns, wild speculation and outright contradictions, it was hard to believe there could be any more surprises in the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.

But when Malaysia's prime minister, Najib Razak, finally appeared before the media on Saturday afternoon – almost 45 minutes later than scheduled and for the first time since flight MH370 went missing seven days before – his words were startling.

Not only did investigators believe the plane had been deliberately diverted after its communication systems were switched off, but they believed it had been sending signals to satellites from air or ground as late as 8.11am on Saturday morning, more than six-and-a-half hours after it had lost contact with air control staff and 45 minutes after the Boeing 777 had been declared missing in a statement from the airline.

That final ping came from one of two lengthy air corridors stretching as far as Kazakhstan to the north or the southern Indian Ocean – around western Australia – to the south; by that point, if still in the air, the plane would probably have been almost out of fuel. The initial search area in the South China Sea was no longer relevant, but an even vaster swath of land and sea was now in play.

Within the central mystery, of where flight MH370 ended – and why – lie two more puzzles. How could a passenger jet, 74 metres long and with a 61-metre wingspan, apparently disappear for six hours before anyone raised the alarm? And how could it cross the airspace of multiple countries in a region sensitive about security without anyone noticing?

Each day of the investigation has brought fresh suspicions, theories and facts, many debunked in less than 24 hours. "We are going through a roller coaster and feel helpless and powerless," one woman waiting for news of a relative told Associated Press.

Were it not for the tragedy of the 239 passengers and crew missing aboard the plane, it would seem like the stuff of a Hollywood thriller.

"A normal investigation becomes narrower with time, as new information focuses the search," the minister of transport Hishammuddin Hussein had said on Friday. "But this is not a normal investigation."

It was 12.41am on Saturday 8 March when flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing. The 227 passengers were in experienced hands: Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah had served the airline for 23 years; his first officer Fariq Abdul Hamid for seven. Around 40 minutes later came the last verbal contact with the plane, as Malaysian air traffic control told the flight deck that their next contact would be with Vietnamese authorities. "All right, goodnight," was the reply. It is not clear which of the pilots was speaking.

Vietnamese authorities say the flight never entered their airspace; according to another pilot, they asked him to relay a message to MH370. Whether they took any further action is unknown. What is certain is that it was not until 7.24am, almost an hour after the plane's scheduled arrival time of 6.30am, that the airline announced it was missing.

The early hours of the search were chaotic, but they often are. A persistent but false rumour suggested there had been an emergency landing in southern China; it appeared sufficiently credible for Malaysia Airlines to investigate.

The circumstances were so unusual – good weather; the lack of a distress call; the experience of the pilots; and the strong safety records of both the Boeing 777 and Malaysia Airlines – that the possibility of a deliberate disappearance surfaced quickly. Some cited the possibility of a pilot suicide – thought to have happened in at least two air crashes – with whoever was at the controls carrying out a deliberate nosedive into the South China Sea. But the way that data from the plane stopped suddenly suggested to many a possible explosion or perhaps a catastrophic failure. Experts predicted the plane or its wreckage would be found within a day or so

Then, as authorities began to break the news to families, it emerged that two listed passengers were not on board. Their passports had been stolen a year or more before and were being used by others. Speculation of a hijacking soared, only to be curtailed on Tuesday when Interpol said it believed the young Iranians using those passports were not terrorists but seeking asylum in Europe.

On the same day, the inspector general of Malaysian police announced that his officers were looking at several possible causes of the disappearance: hijacking, sabotage, or the crew and passengers' personal or psychological problems.

But officials stressed they were examining all possible explanations and Malaysia Airlines said the plane might have turned back towards Kuala Lumpur, suggesting to many that technical problems might have prompted an attempted return to its departure point.

By now, however, people were treating new announcements with wariness at best, given the confusions and outright contradictions; on Tuesday, the police chief said that five people had checked in but not boarded; the following day, the transport minister insisted no one had done so. Officials brushed crucial questions aside, described them as "too sensitive" or on occasion seemed to simply misunderstand them.

"There have been misinformation and corrections from Malaysian authorities on the whereabouts of MH370," Peter Goelz, former managing director of the US government's National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), told CNN, calling it the worst disaster management he had seen. "At best, Malaysian officials have thus far been poor communicators; at worst, they are incompetent.

Hishammuddin dismissed such criticism: "It's only confusion if you want it to be seen as confusion," he maintained.The crisis has revealed inefficiencies within the Malaysian system. It has also reflected enduring mistrust between many of the 14 countries involved in the search, unused to that level of co-operation. Malaysia appeared reluctant to disclose its radar data to neighbours; they were exasperated by the lack of clarity over the aircraft's path.

Suspicion remains that Malaysians were aware that the plane had headed west long before they announced it; in early statements Malaysia Airlines repeatedly said last contact with the plane was at 2.40am, long after the transponder was turned off but coinciding with a possible military radar sighting announced much later.

It has also become evident that while Malaysia remains in charge of the investigation, American expertise and capability in areas such as satellite technology is proving critical to the investigation's development. Staff from the Federal Aviation Administration and the NTSB, which investigates all domestic US air crashes, have been joined by commercial experts from Boeing and British flight investigators.

US leaks may also have proved critical to pushing the Malaysians towards greater transparency: the Wall Street Journal was the first to raise the possibility that the plane had flown for several hours after its last conflict, citing unnamed US sources.

But since the diversion is believed to be deliberate, unravelling the mystery of flight MH370 is now likely to rely as much on deciphering human clues as technical data: who was responsible and what did they want?

Whether the plane was diverted by one of the crew or a passenger is unknown. If, as seems likely, it was the captain or first officer flying, it is also possible they were acting under duress.

Experts say that disabling the communications systems would have required specialist knowledge not just of aircraft per se but of the Boeing 777 specifically.

Another key question is whether the systems were shut off before or after air traffic control last spoke to the pilots. The calm "Goodnight" from the cockpit clearly raises questions if the systems had already been disabled.

The pilot who said he tried to reach the flight at the behest of Vietnamese air traffic control shortly after 1.30am – when the transponders were already off – said he could hear only mumbling amid heavy interference, but believed he was probably speaking to the first officer.

The route the plane took also required significant navigational experience. And the timing of the diversion is also striking: just as the responsibility of Malaysia's air traffic control officials gave way to Vietnam's. The perfect opportunity for the plane to go missing with minimal attention.

However, while cockpit security was tightened after 9/11, it is known that the first officer had invited young women to watch him fly on at least one occasion. The plane had also just reached cruising altitude, at which point a pilot might leave the cockpit for a break.

With more than 150 of its citizens on board, China has stepped up pressure for answers: "We ask that the Malaysian side provide more comprehensive and accurate information," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

Harsher was a commentary from China's state news agency Xinhua on the "painfully belated" release of information: "Given today's technology, the delay smacks of either dereliction of duty or reluctance to share information in a full and timely manner."

But extracting information on the plane's location from the signals it sent to satellites is a highly complex task - as the potential range of its last position indicates.

Officials in the US have suggested that the plane is more likely to have taken a southerly course, otherwise military radars in a highly sensitive region would have picked it up – though Malaysia has acknowledged its own military made no attempt to identify MH370 when it was picked up by radar on the western coast.

If MH370 did indeed turn south, there are few obvious places it could have landed in the Indian Ocean. It's more likely, officials suggest, that it crashed into the sea. There, the sheer expanse of water and an average depth of more than two miles make the task of tracking debris unimaginably difficult.

Updates and Our Thoughts on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

This Boeing 777-200 (reg number: (9M-MRO) is the one in question with Malaysia Flight MH370 – Photo: Thomas Becker

Almost exactly one week after the Malaysian authorities confirmed that MH370 operating from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing had gone missing – today, in an astonishing turn of events, the government confirmed that Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 was hijacked. They have further confirmed that the aircraft was steered off course and flown for nearly seven hours. To where, they have not yet confirmed.

There is so much innuendo and speculation floating around, AirlineReporter’s senior staff thought we should throw our hats into the ring.

(Managing Correspondent) BERNIE’S OPINION:

Since Saturday, March 8, I was convinced this was an act of air piracy in some form. Conversations with some people I know in the national security industry and security journalists (some of them even in Connecticut) only further convinced me. It was very interesting for me to hear among the men who keep their countries safe across oceans questions of not “where is the debris?” but, more sinister and concerning, what was in the unscreened cargo?

DHS cannot even confirm what LD3 positions aboard 9M-MRO were full. The question then became, was there anything valuable enough in the cargo hold that a major state actor would want the cargo that badly? Furthermore, why would China release the aircraft for flight when they otherwise demand all cargo be prescreened, and have actually denied airspace entry to aircraft that did not meet that requirement for their freight?

So, with all that in mind – as well as the fact twenty engineers from Freescale semiconductors were onboard that were working on military-grade RF power systems – what happened? Well, if you ask me (and that’s the whole point of this exercise) the cabin or technical crew had to, at least partially, be in on it. Either that or the two “asylum seekers” with identical legs were secretly even more obvious state actors and also skilled.

Forty minutes after departure, whatever crew members and or operators were on board acted to put their piracy operation into play, they turned southwest near IGARI and managed to overfly Malaysia with no one noticing (or if they did, they sure are not saying anything). You fly for a bit and find yourself over the Indian Ocean. So, say you’re over a checkpoint called IGREX and you turn Northwest and fly over India. You fly a very select route, with all your transponders (including the XPNDR) turned off.

With the XPNDR turned off, that also turns off the data necessary for TCAS to work, so you could fly very close to or under an identified aircraft and “ghost” on secondary and primary civilian radar. You could then continue to fly over India, over the notoriously-porous country of Pakistan, and well then into a country in Central Asia that I shall not name – but has hangars large enough to handle a 747 and numerous, 14,000 foot runways. Why there? Because there is that exact airport within a 6.5 hour air time that matches the distance, within fifty miles, from what the Malaysian government stated the aircraft had flown.

But wait, you say? India is extremely paranoid and has a great Integrated Air Defense System. Here’s the thing, Electronic and information warfare have been centered around either creating fake “inserts” into military air search radar, or removing your blip entirely. It would become even easier if you were a state actor from a country that had a very similar air defense network (down to the radars and surface to air missiles) – you could practice using aircraft of a similar size on identical radars.

In all honesty – hiding a 777 would be something that could be made an art. I am aware that Indian IADS also has western equipment, so I believe the selected route was chosen based off of very detailed intelligence gathering of India’s systems such that the state actor orchestrating the operation could ensure that there were only Russian radars. So then? What happened to the people? Other than a select few who were either in on it or are being tortured in prison for secrets – I think it’s sadly obvious.

Will the plane be used for a “Second 9/11″ that will scare soccer moms forever? NO! Absolutely 100% no. If we ever see 9M-MRO again, it will be in a manufactured crash site in a country where said Central Asian state actor could easily fly debris and say “look, see, check this out!”. FDR/CVR data will never be found because whoever finds the debris will take the lead on the investigation and simply not release it. Furthermore, if they give the data recorders back to Malaysia, Malaysia is the head of the world Islamic Bank, they launder money for this country. It’s in their best interest to shut up.

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Some visual aids......

and.....

and....

Are we sure all passengers known to be on board had no ulterior motives ? Who are the two ukrainians , for example ? Any ties to far right / neo nzai groups or any other extremist organizations ? Just wondering -- two Ukrainians on board. What connections do these passengers have to any hi-jinks ?

Three crucial pieces of evidence

We’ve had quite a lot of analysis over the past week, but earlier today AP posted a good summary of the key pieces of evidence pointing to on-board sabotage.

1. The transponder

The transponder – a signal system that identifies the plane to radar – was shut off about an hour into the flight.

That’s not a straightforward thing to do. Someone in the cockpit would have to turn a knob with multiple selections to the off position while pressing down at the same time, said John Goglia, a former member of the US National Transportation Safety Board.

However, it could also be learned by someone who researched the plane on the internet, Goglia said.

2. Acars

The Boeing 777’s Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (Acars) – used to send short messages via a satellite or VHF radio – was shut off.

In most planes, the information part of the system can be shut down by hitting cockpit switches in sequence in order to get to a computer screen where an option must be selected using a keypad, said Goglia, an expert on aircraft maintenance.

Again, that could be done by the pilot or someone who had researched the system.

But to turn off the other part of the Acars, it would be necessary to go to an electronics bay beneath the cockpit. That’s something a pilot wouldn’t normally know how to do, Goglia said, and it wasn’t done in the case of the Malaysia plane. Thus, the ACARS transmitter continued to send out blips that were recorded by the satellite once an hour for four to five hours after the transponder was turned off.

3. Guided flight

After the transponder was turned off and civilian radar lost track of the plane, Malaysian military radar was able to continue to track the plane as it turned west.

The plane was then tracked along a known flight route across the peninsula until it was several hundred kilometres offshore and beyond the range of military radar.

Airliners normally fly from waypoint to waypoint where they can be seen by air traffic controllers who space them out so they don’t collide. These lanes in the sky aren’t straight lines. In order to follow that course, someone had to be guiding the plane, Goglia said.

Reuters report that Malaysian officials briefed envoys from about 20 countries on progress in the investigation after calling off a search in the South China Sea for the jet that vanished from radar screens more than a week ago, with 239 people on board.

﻿Although countries have been coordinating individually, the broad formal request marks a new diplomatic phase in an operation expanding across two hemispheres and overshadowed by mounting Chinese criticism of Malaysian-led search efforts. “The meeting was for us to know exactly what is happening and what sort of help they need. It is more for them to tell us, ‘please put in all your resources’,” T.S. Tirumurti, India’s high commissioner to Malaysia, told Reuters. The diplomatic initiative could become significant as nations ponder whether to share any military data on the Boeing 777’s fate and fills a void left by the failure of Southeast Asian nations to work as a bloc on the crisis, one diplomat said. “There are clearly limits to military data but there is an awareness this is a commercial matter,” the diplomat added.

Press conference

The formal statement by the transport minister is over let’s have a summary of what was said:

• More than 20 countries have now been briefed after the search area for the plane was widened to two corridors in the last few days. These include countries as far apart as Kazakhstan and Indonesia.

• Malaysian authorities have requested support from those countries. This includes satellite and primary radar data and requesting deployment of sea search assets.

• Discussions are underway as to how to best deploy those assets and interestingly, the northern search corridor - from Malaysia towards central Asia - and the southern corridor - from Malaysia towards the Indian Ocean - are being given equal importance in terms of search capabilities. Currently more ships are needed for the southern corridor.

• The government is also asking China, US and France to provide further satellite data.

• The investigation is refocusing on the backgrounds of the passengers, pilots and even ground staff. The families of the pilot and co-pilot have been interviewed. We were told that they did not ask to fly together on this flight.

• Police are examining a flight simulator belonging to one of the pilots of the missing jetliner.

There is more information coming in from the press conference during the Q&A: one of the transponder systems was switched off before the last communication from the pilot and his message - “All right, good night”.

The last statement in the conference is revealing. The acting transport minister parties asks other countries to “come forward” with other information - most likely intelligence satellite and radar data - to help ”narrow the search area” which is far too massive for any kind of detailed search.

The person in control of missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 issued their last communication to air traffic control after the first set of aircraft communications was disabled, Malaysian authorities have confirmed, adding further weight to suspicion that the plane was hijacked.

The latest revelation suggests that the person who delivered the “All right, good night” message to Kuala Lumpur air traffic controllers just before the Boeing-777 disappeared from their radar at 1.22am and diverted from its scheduled flightpath to Beijing was also aware that the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (Acars) had been manually shut down.

Investigations still do not appear to know who was at the helm and what their intentions were when the aircraft disappeared from civilian radar more than a week ago.

Experts on aircraft maintenance have explained that the plane’s communications system can only be disabled manually – a process that requires switching a number of cockpit controls in sequence until a computer screen necessitates a keyboard input ...

India has suspended its naval and aerial search for the jetliner while it awaits word on fresh search areas from the Malaysian authorities, AP reports.

Colonel Harmit Singh, a spokesman for India’s tri-services command, said coastguard ships have reverted to routine surveillance in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

“Air and sea operations for today have been put on hold,” Singh said.

There was no indication of when the search efforts would resume. A government official said earlier in the day that Indian and Malaysian officials were scheduled to meet in Kuala Lumpur later on Sunday to refine search coordinates.

The Indian navy and air force’s coordinated search for the last three days has covered more than 250,000 square kilometers (100,579 square miles) in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal without any sighting of the Boeing 777.

In a statement on Sunday, India’s defence ministry said:

So far no sighting or detection has been reported by the units deployed for searches in various designated areas. The Malaysian authorities have now indicated that based on investigation, the search operations have entered a new phase and a strategy for further searches is being formulated. Accordingly, search operations have been suspended and all Indian assets earmarked for search operations have been placed on standby.

Nearly a dozen Indian ships, patrol vessels, surveillance aircraft and helicopters have scoured the region. India intensified the search on Saturday by deploying two recently acquired P8i long-range maritime patrol and one C-130J Hercules aircraft. A short-range maritime reconnaissance Dornier aircraft was also deployed.

From China.....

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2014-03/16/c_133190369.htm

Commentary: No time to waste on search for missing MH370

BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The multi-national search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight took an abrupt turn over the weekend, after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak acknowledged that the plane had been deliberately diverted off course.

The new information means the intensive search in the South China Sea for the whole past week was worthless and would never bear fruit. Even worse, the golden time for saving possible survivors, if any, was generously wasted.

Malaysia also revealed that the missing plane with 239 people onboard may have flown on for nearly seven hours after it disappeared from air traffic control radar, which prompted the focus of international search now to shift westward to the Indian Ocean.

It is widely asked why the Malaysian government failed to provide such crucial information as early as possible to avoid futile search by around a dozen countries.

It is equally puzzling why the fact that the plane's communication system continued to "ping" a satellite for hours after it disappeared was only made public days later.

For those who had their beloved ones on the flight, the past week is extremely hard. They were desperate for details and effective information, but came under the torture of conflicting reports and numerous rumors due to the void of official news.

It can hardly be said whether the belated information is a piece of good news or not. But one thing is for sure, with nine days gone, we can not afford to waste any more time.

Timely, thourough and accurate imformation is the guarantee for effective rescue as Malaysian Acting Transportation Minister Hishammuddin Hussein Sunday discloses the search operation has entered a new phase, with search areas expanded significantly and mission more difficult.

As the national state of Malaysian Airlines, Malaysia has the primary and inescapable responsibility to take the lead in the search and rescue efforts.

For the sake of the 239 lives aboard the ill-fate flight and the spirit of humanism, it is also paramount that the countries joining the search that have reached 25 and relevant organizations or companies pool their information and improve coordination to pave way for a swift and efficient redeployment.

In this regard, countries with sophisticated technology and maritime capabilities, should play a bigger and role. It is a race against time and a race that we never want to lose.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-03/16/c_133190344.htm

Missing Malaysian jet pilot, co-pilot not ask to fly together

KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Police have visited pilot and co-pilot homes, Malaysian Transport and Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said here on Sunday, adding both of them did not ask to fly together.

The Malaysian officials denied there was a breach of standard operating procedure, insisting it is a unprecedented case.

According to the minister's statement, the Malaysian government was also asking the United States, China and France to share more satellite images along with many other countries.

Search has become more complex with 25 countries involved. Bangladesh, Turkmenistan and India have been spoken to by the Malaysian prime minister, said the acting transport minister of Malaysia.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-03/16/c_133190309.htm

Malaysia says search for missing MH 370 enters new phase

KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The search operation has entered a new phase and the search area has been significantly expanded, now involving 25 countries, Malaysian Acting Transportation Miniser Hishammuddin Hussein said Sunday at a press conference.

Hishammuddin Hussein said the search now focused both on shallow sea and "large tracts of land, crossing 11 countries, as well as deep and remote oceans."

The number of countrires involved in the search has increased to 25 from 14, the minister said.

As to information of the two pilots who were suspected by U.S. intelligence analysts of being responsible for the disappearance of MH 370, the minister said the two pilots had not asked to fly together, giving no more details.

Hishammuddin Hussein also said Acars communication system had been disabled before last radio contact between plane and air traffic.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-03/16/c_133190499.htm

Australia aircraft to coordinate search mission for Malaysia flight in new area

CANBERRA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Two Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF) AP-3C Orion aircraft will continue to support the Malaysian to coordinate the search for the missing flight MH370 in the extended new area, Chief of the Defense Force General David Hurley said here Sunday.

Hurley confirmed that Malaysian authorities coordinating the search had re-tasked an Australian aircraft, according to an update from Australian Department of Defense.

"Today one RAAF AP-3C Orion commenced searching the Indian Ocean to the north and west of the Cocos Islands," he said.

"This aircraft is expected to return to the Cocos Islands overnight and launch from that location on Monday to maximize mission time in the expanded search area," he added.

He said that the second RAAF AP-3C Orion will continue to search areas west of Malaysia.

Australia has provided two RAAF aircraft to assist the Malaysian government in its search effort since March 9.

Both aircraft are tasked by the Royal Malaysian Air Force commander for the Western Region Search Area and requests for information on progress of the search should be directed to the Malaysian authorities.

During Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s bizarre and alarming press conference last night on missing airliner #MH370, he revealed that the multi-country search has now turned to a vast swath of the Indian Ocean.

Many civilian observers pulled out their maps and are asking questions about Diego Garcia. Nope, not a person named “Diego Garcia,” but Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, which “provides logistic support to operational forces forward deployed to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf areas of responsibility in support of national policy objectives” on “an atoll of the Chagos Archipelago in the British Indian Ocean Territory, located 7 degrees south of the equator.”